Red-light cameras to be up in June

OCEANSIDE -- City officials will use high-tech camera technology
to snap images of motorists running red lights at two key
intersections starting next month.

The city is installing red-light cameras at the intersections of
College and Oceanside boulevards, and Mission Avenue and Canyon
Drive, as part of its pilot enforcement program.

The two-phase program is aimed at reducing the number of traffic
collisions caused by red-light runners. The cameras will photograph
motorists who drive through red lights, and city officials will
mail citations to the vehicles' owners.

Police Lt. Tom Jones said Friday the city probably will activate
the cameras in late June, and will have a monthlong warning period
in which residents would receive written warnings instead of
citations. Violators will start receiving fines for their
infractions in late July or early August, he said.

Police officials said the red-light cameras are another tool for
the Police Department to improve public safety.

"Cities that have (red-light cameras) have shown a decrease in
injury accidents," Jones said previously.

After the first year of the program, the City Council will be
asked to approve cameras for eight more intersections.

Redflex Traffic Systems, an Arizona company that operates
red-light camera systems, will purchase and operate the cameras at
no cost to the city.

Aaron Rosenberg, Redflex's vice president for sales and
marketing in North America, said the company has been working
closely with the city's traffic department to finish the final
designs for the cameras.

Redflex and the city will use newspaper ads and other efforts to
alert city residents of the cameras before they become operational,
Rosenberg said.

Officials in Vista, Del Mar, Escondido and Encinitas have
recently signed similar agreements with Redflex. The cities of San
Diego, El Cajon and Poway implemented similar red-light programs
several years ago.

The city is expected to receive about 5 percent to 10 percent of
the money collected in fines after reimbursing Redflex $89 per
ticket. The city's remaining revenue from the system, expected to
be about $7,000 per traffic light annually, is expected to go
toward the administrative cost of having police officers review the
tapes to issue citations.

The cameras will take four photographs of cars running red
lights -- three from behind and one in front -- along with a
12-second video. A police employee will scan the pictures and video
to identify red-light runners and a sworn officer will need to sign
each ticket.